To link to the entire object, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed the entire object, paste this HTML in websiteTo link to this page, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed this page, paste this HTML in website

"Writing our own program": the USC experiment in modern architectural pedagogy, 1930 to 1960

“WRITING OUR OWN PROGRAM”:
THE USC EXPERIMENT IN MODERN ARCHITECTURAL PEDAGOGY,
1930 TO 1960
by
Deborah Howell-Ardila
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION
December 2010
Copyright 2010 Deborah Howell-Ardila

Although USC offered the region’s first and only professional degree in architecture from 1925 until the 1960s, very little research has been conducted on the school’s history. Much of the secondary literature has generally accepted – and perpetuated – the assumption that, in the post-World War II period, through the work of a few determined actors, the USC School of Architecture shed virtually overnight its Beaux-Arts-influenced curriculum and adopted a modern, pragmatic approach.; This thesis demonstrates that USC launched a modern "experiment" in architectural education far earlier than is generally acknowledged—beginning in the early 1930s and primarily shaped by the exigencies of the Great Depression, rather than 1945 with the end of World War II. The individual who was most decisive in launching this experiment is also the person least cited in the literature: Arthur Clason Weatherhead, head of the program and dean from 1914 to 1944.; In 1930, through Weatherhead’s design and initiative, the USC College of Architecture became the fifth out of 45 American collegiate schools of architecture to shift away from the Beaux-Arts system and craft a modern, hands-on alternative. In the case of USC, this alternative was grounded in pragmatism, social responsiveness and "present-day conditions" contemporary, site-specific design, regional identity, and a close association with the allied arts. Weatherhead’s thirty-year career at USC coincided with an era of widespread re-evaluation and subsequent overhaul of American collegiate schools of architecture.; This thesis sheds light on this era through an examination of departmental bulletins and course lists, newspaper and trade magazine articles of the day, faculty and student publications, as well as interviews with alumnae. Once the USC "experiment" was established and in place in the late 1930s, the curriculum and design philosophy remained largely intact through the early 1960s.; This study does not intend to diminish the contributions of the postwar dean, Arthur Gallion. From 1945 to 1960, Gallion built on the foundations in place and expanded the school according to the pressing issues of the day: housing, planning, industrial design, and landscape architecture. In national terms, the example of the USC School of Architecture illustrates how educators and architects on the "far western" periphery of Southern California responded to the issues challenging – and changing – the architectural profession and academy across the United States.; Seen in the context of the 1930s, Weatherhead’s program at USC was shaped by the need to reject prescriptive ideas about style emphasized under the Beaux-Arts system. At USC, the social aspects of modernism became the focus. In this way, the affinity between the USC design philosophy and the iconic work of the region’s modernist avant-garde is not meant to suggest that the USC School of Architecture fits within the larger story of the region’s genius-architects. Rather, this thesis suggests that the work of the region’s early "starchitects" fits within the broader social context that also nurtured and produced the modern USC School of Architecture. To paraphrase Gwendolyn Wright, this study hopes to highlight not the "individual stars" but the larger "constellation" of modern architectural thought and design in Southern California.

Keyword

history of the USC School of Architecture; architectural education in Los Angeles; Arthur Weatherhead; Arthur Gallion; Gordon Drake; Calvin Straub; Whitney Smith; Clayton Baldwin; earliest departures from the Beaux-Arts system; American architectural pedagogy; Beaux-Arts system for architectural education; reform of collegiate schools of architecture in the interwar period; Great Depression and its effects on the architectural profession and schools; modern architectural education; regional modernism; modern architecture in Los Angeles and Southern California

“WRITING OUR OWN PROGRAM”:
THE USC EXPERIMENT IN MODERN ARCHITECTURAL PEDAGOGY,
1930 TO 1960
by
Deborah Howell-Ardila
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION
December 2010
Copyright 2010 Deborah Howell-Ardila